Life Is Cool (Korean: 그녀는 예뻤다; rr: Geunyeoneun Yeppeotda; lit. "She Was Beautiful") is a 2008 South Korean romance animated film, and is the first rotoscoped film from that country.[2] This film's visual style was influenced from Richard Linklater's two films, Waking Life (2001) and A Scanner Darkly (2006).

Life Is Cool
Theatrical poster
Directed byChoi Equan
Choe Seung-won
Written byChoi Equan
Produced byLee Tae-hun
StarringKim Su-ro
Kang Sung-jin
Kim Jin-soo
Park Ye-jin
CinematographySin Gyeong-won
Jeong Yeong-sam
Choe Byeong-hun
Edited byWang Sang-ik
Music byJang Min-seung
Jeong Jae-il
Distributed byCJ Entertainment
Release date
  • 12 June 2008 (2008-06-12)
Running time
98 minutes
CountrySouth Korea
LanguageKorean
Box officeUS$28,100[1]

Plot

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Three tricenarian best friends — a heart-broken Romeo, a hopeless romantic, and a goofy playboy — meet for the first time in ten years. However, things get complicated when they all fall for the same woman.

Cast

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  • Kim Su-ro ... Baek Il-kwon
  • Kang Sung-jin ... Kim Tae-yeong
  • Kim Jin-soo ... Seong-hoon
  • Park Ye-jin ... Kang Yeon-woo
  • Kim Roi-ha ... Basketball manager
  • Lee Won ... Samsung scouter
  • David Joseph Anselmo ... Foreign professor
  • Goo Bon-im ... Barbershop woman
  • Kim Choon-gi ... University adulterer
  • Kim Ju-hyeon ... High school girl
  • Yoon Joo-hee ... Joo-hee
  • Jo Young-gyu ... Policeman
  • Park Jin-taek ... Naked man
  • Park Yoo-mil ... Pregnant woman
  • Lee Sang-hong ... Tango gangster

Production

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Life Is Cool was one of four films produced by CJ Entertainment to receive investment from Keyeast, a media contents company co-established by actor Bae Yong-joon.[3] Although actual shooting only lasted for one month, it then took almost two years and 140 artists to complete the rotoscoping, a technique in which animators traced over live action footage frame by frame. Visual effects were created by local production company DNA, who had previously worked on The Animatrix.[2]

Director Choi Equan has said that he was inspired by the Richard Linklater's film Waking Life, and that the film's plot was based on a real-life story of one of his friends.[2]

Release

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Life Is Cool was released in South Korea on 12 June 2008. The film accumulated a total of 3,951 admissions at the domestic box office, and grossed US$28,100.[1]

References

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  1. ^ a b "South Korea Yearly Box Office 2008, #201–300". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 28 May 2009.
  2. ^ a b c Lee Hyo-won. "Rotoscoped Film Shows Life in '4D'". The Korea Times, 5 June 2008. Retrieved 29 June 2008.
  3. ^ "Top star invests in domestic films". Hancinema, 25 May 2006 (originally published by The Korea Herald). Retrieved 29 June 2008.
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